


Dude, That's Sick

by RichiesToesHurt



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Anxious Eddie Kaspbrak, Brave Eddie Kaspbrak, Comforting Richie Tozier, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Eddie Kaspbrak's Shorts, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Reddie, Richie Tozier Flirts, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Soft Richie Tozier, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-02 19:53:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21166991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RichiesToesHurt/pseuds/RichiesToesHurt
Summary: Eddie wasn’t entirely sure why, but he felt tears welling in his eyes. He knew that it was hurting him to see Richie so weak, he had usually been the backbone to everyone’s happy mood. Whenever one of the Losers was having a bad day, Richie was the one to lift their spirits, Eddie always loved that about him. This feeling was easy for him to understand, but he knew that this wasn’t why he was crying. He knew he was crying about something much deeper. His emotions simply weren’t sure how to cope with a love like this. It had been a love so strong, but so dormant for so long. Neither boy has crossed the line of speaking about their feelings, let alone acting on it. It was overwhelming for Eddie, but at the same time he never wanted to leave. He wanted to hold Richie forever, he wanted to be held by Richie forever. He just wanted Richie forever.





	1. Chapter 1

Eddie Kaspbrak would never admit it out loud, but he had been a nervous wreck all day. His best friend Richie Tozier hasn’t shown up to school for two days now and he was starting to get worried. By the time lunch had rolled around, Richie was the only thing on his mind.

“Guys how do we know he didn’t get in a fiery car wreck on the way home the other day and is dead in a ditch somewhere” Eddie expressed one of his many predictions as to where Richie has been for the past day and a half.

“NO, _no_ I don’t think that’s what happened Eddie, just calm down, I’m sure he’ll show tomorrow, he’s probably just sick at home” Ben said, trying to halt the Kaspbrak worried ramble train before it derails, and everyone is yelling.

“Tomorrow is Saturday dude” Eddie could feel the back of his neck get hot as he started to worry more “so we won’t know if he’s alive or not until Monday. What if he’s still alive in the ditch but just like- in a coma or something, w-we could probably still rescue him!” Eddie could tell he was being dramatic, a part of him was joking, but the majority of him was actually worried. Being raised by Sonia Kaspbrak will cause your mind to jump to crazy places when panic ensues.

“Why don’t you just go to his house after school and ask him if he’s alive” Bev said rolling her eyes “he probably just discovered a new chain of weed and is taking time to process the world.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to get there!?” Bev’s comment did nothing to help Eddie’s spiraling train of thought, though his response was a valid question. Even though he was a senior in high-school, Sonia has vowed that her Eddie-Bear will NEVER see himself seated behind the wheel of a car for as long as she’d live. Therefore, Eddie was forced to take the bus to school. Eddies house was _miles_ from Richie’s so taking the bus home would be a blatant waste of time.

“It’s a good thing you wore those shorts, I guess you’re going for a jog” Bev said through a giggle, tossing a glance towards Eddie’s bright red running shorts.

Eddies throat swelled with frustration.

*

By seventh period, Eddie has made up his mind. He realized that though Bev was joking, she was right, Eddie was going to have to run the four miles to Richie’s house. He decided not to tell the rest of the losers his plan because part of him feared that each of them would offer to take him to Richie’s house, but that would mean that they would make the visit with him, which part of him selfishly didn’t want to happen. There was a part of Eddie that wanted Richie to know that it had been only Eddie who was stressing over his absence. He wanted Richie to know that he cared about him. If someone else was there, it would dilute the effect.

Once the final bell rang, Eddie stopped to visit his locker, unloading the heaviest belongings that he didn’t need for the weekend. Then he made his way to the parking lot, walking until he got to the street, where he began his jog. Eddie really did enjoy the act of running; it was almost freeing for him. He was always used to not being allowed to participate in sports or even gym class because his mother felt that he would break the second he caught a ball or ran out of breath. Though Eddie had asthma, it wasn’t nearly as bad as his mother thought. He almost never had to use his inhaler anymore, though he kept it handy.

When Eddie was about halfway there, he had to slow to catch his breath, he walked with his hands clasped on the top of his head, a trick he learned from Bill when they used to play soccer in his backyard. It helped Eddie to have other tactics to try before jumping straight too sending a puff of chemicals down his throat. This time it seemed to be enough to help him catch his breath, once he was breathing almost normally again, he powered through the rest of his run.

Once he got to Richie’s house, he stopped to take a seat on the steps leading up to the front porch. He swung his backpack off and unzipped it, he reached in and dug out what Richie called “Ed’s makeup bag” of which contained all of the essentials, things like his inhaler, hair pomade, a compact mirror, eyedrops, ibuprofen, aspirin, deodorant, a comb, you name it. Eddie quickly took a puff from his inhaler, needing it not necessarily for the medicinal reasons, but for confidence. Eddie then opened his mirror, seeing that his hair had escaped its neat style during his commute, now it was a wavy mess of hair on top of his head. He sighed and figured he could fix it later. 

Eddie confidently knocked on Richie’s front door, seconds later he was greeted by the lovely face of Maggie Tozier. She was happy and almost relieved to see Eddie.

“Oh, hi Eddie! He’s upstairs in bed, he’s pretty sick but it’s nothing too serious, I think sleeping right now but you’re welcome to come on in and give him some company!” Maggie exclaimed, desperate for someone to pull her son out of the funk he was in. Richie had been bed ridden for a few days now and she could tell that the lack of interaction was getting into his head.

“O-okay!” Eddie felt his body relax, knowing now that Richie was only sick in bed. “I should probably give my mom a call to let her know I’m here.”

“I’ll take care of that, you just go on ahead upstairs.” Maggie said, eager for her son’s spirits to be lifted.

“Okay, thanks Mrs. Tozier!” Eddie said as he kicked his shoes into the hall closet and scurried up the stairs.

Eddie lightly tapped on the wood of Richie’s door and waited to hear a reply. After a few seconds he gently turned the doorknob and poked his head in to see what Richie was doing. The room was completely dark, so it took Eddies eyes a second to adjust, as he walked into the room, he lightly shut the door behind him. The room had a thick scent of musk and Vicks Vapor Rub. Eddie snuck towards the window next to Richie’s bed and pulled the curtain back to allow natural light to flood the room, while he was at it, he cracked the window open and turned a fan on to allow the room to circulate. Now that Eddie could see, he glanced to the bed.

The only visible parts of Richie were a foot and a fluffy head of black curls. Eddie stared for a moment, watching the comforter rise and fall with Richie’s breathing. Eddie’s eyes then wandered to his nightstand, Richie’s glasses were resting in a nest of used tissues, Eddie shuddered. He quickly grabbed the trashcan and swept the tissues into it, then he found a lens wipe in Richie’s desk drawer and cleaned his glasses, folded them, then put them back onto the nightstand. Eddie then turned around and looked at himself in the mirror above Richie’s dresser, his hair was still a mess. Eddie grabbed Richie’s comb and attempted to flatten his wavy hair. Once he realized that the comb simply wasn’t enough, he started digging in his book bag to retrieve his hair pomade. Once he pulled it out and started to open it, he was interrupted.

“Wait don’t do that!” The raspiness of Richie’s voice seemed to catch them both of guard.

“What why?” Eddie was feeling defensive, his curly hair being an insecurity of his, remembering growing up with is mother desperately raking at his hair trying to comb out his natural curls.

“I never get to see your curly hair Eds” Richie’s voice was almost inaudible. Eddie turned around and saw the top half of Richie’s face, his dark blue eyes were held in a straining squint, his forehead was damp with sweat from sleeping, a few of his curls were glued to his visible temple.

“You can’t even see anything, your eyes are missing their other half” Eddie huffed and sat down in Richie’s desk chair.

Eddie watched as Richie emerged from his cocoon, reaching for his glasses and sitting up in bed. Richie was wearing a loose fitting dark green tee-shirt that looked to be the most comfortable thing in the world. Suddenly, Eddie was aware of how scratchy and flimsy his own shirt was.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am super fuckin’ stoked you’re here, but why’d you come over? Also, how the fuck did you get here?” Richie asked, half settling back into the warmth of his bed. Evidently struggling to talk by the veins making themselves prominent on the side of his neck and his forehead wrinkling throughout the phrase. 

“I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead” Eddie replied, half joking “and I ran, I wanted to go for a run tonight anyway, so I figured why not.” Eddie new damn well the last part wasn’t true, but he threw it in as to not boost Richie’s ego too much.

“Awe, I knew you loved me Eds” Richie said as he snuck an arm out from under his comforter and hugged a pillow to his chest, burying his face into it.

Eddie laughed as he started to walk around the room enjoying the atmosphere, he always loved Richie’s room, everything was so Richie. There was always something to look at, which was nice for two boys who constantly felt inclined to break their lingering gaze on one another. Eddie walked around glancing at the various posters, records, and whatever else was littered around the room.

Eddie jumped as Richie started to cough, it sounded painful and weak, Eddie noticed a cup on Richie’s desk that he concluded once had water in it. He quickly grabbed the cup and ran to the bathroom next door to fill it up. He quickly returned to the room and handed the glass to Richie.

Richie muttered a loose “_omygod thanks…” _before drinking most of the glass. Now that the two were closer to each other, Eddie could see that Richie was physically burning up, he had sweat dripping down his forehead and neck, he quickly returned to the bathroom, soaking a clean washcloth with cold water. As he walked back into the room, he saw that Richie laid back down in bed and closed his eyes, this time on his back. Eddie sat on the bed next to him and rested his hand with the cool rag on Richie’s forehead. Richie gasped at the cold touch and squirmed an arm out from under the blanket.

“_why…_” was all Richie could say when Eddie quickly grabbed Richie’s arm reaching for the cold rag at his forehead.

“You have a fever, you’re gonna explode if you don’t cool down” Eddie responded. Eddie felt Richie’s arm relax, then he plucked his glasses from his face and put them back on the nightstand.

Richie whined at the action even though he hasn’t opened his eyes since Eddie handed him the water. Eddie repositioned himself on Richie’s bed so that he was sitting cross legged facing him, switching arms so that his dominant right hand could work the cool cloth over his forehead and his other could lightly rest on top of Richie’s hand with two intended purposes, the first being to be on guard have there be another dash to bat at the cooling rag, and the second being more of a heartfully driven instinct to comfort Richie. The fact that Richie was hurting tugged at Eddie’s heart strings.

Eddie watched as Richie’s lips curled into a smile, Eddie smiled himself and started to trace his thumb against the back of Richie’s hand. Eddie stroked the wet cloth gently across Richie’s forehead, raking back the mess of curls and wiping away the sweat. Eddie could tell that Richie was close to falling back asleep, but he knew that Richie should probably get out of bed.

“Hey, Rich you should probably shower or something, you’re kinda gross.”

“What does ‘or something’ stand for?” Richie responded as his eyes fluttered open.

Eddie laughed as he turned to stand up. Richie turned and ran his hand down the back of Eddies arm, grabbing at his hand.

“Wait don’t leave, pet me some more, I was almost purring” Richie wined and tugged at Eddies hand.

“No Richie, you have to take a shower before I start throwing up at your stench.” Eddie wasn’t really that grossed out but what he really wanted to do was crawl into bed with Richie and there was no way he was going to allow himself to curl up next to a vomit smelling Richie.

Just as Richie was opening his mouth to respond, Maggie was yelling from downstairs.

“Soup will be ready in ten boys, do you want me to bring it up?”

“Yeah that’s fine Ma!” Richie yelled back, this resulted in another cough attack, this one ending with Eddie’s hand circling Richie’s back. Flashing Eddie a defeated look, Richie got up and walked into the bathroom.

Eddie took this as his opportunity to clean up Richie’s room a little more, he opened his closet and found another set of sheets. Eddie gladly pealed the old sheets off Richie’s bed and threw them into the hamper, replacing them with the fresh set. Eddie then started clearing the floor of empty cans, dirty clothes, and scattered comics and records. Before Eddie got too carried away, he sat down on the beanbag chair and thumbed through a random comic he collected from the _now neatened_ stack on the bookshelf to wait for Richie to come back.

A mere few moments later, a very wet and very cold Richie in a fluffy hot pink robe waltzed back into the room. Richie was scrubbing at his hair with a towel trying to dry off as fast as possible. Eddie smiled as he watched Richie walk to his dresser pulling out a pair of boxers and black fluffy pajama pants.

Richie stepped into the boxers and pulled them up underneath his robe, his pants followed suit. Then he stripped himself of the robe. Eddie blushed, then noticed that Richie was about to drop it to the floor but then threw it over the back of his chair. Richie stole a glance at Eddie and saw that he was staring.

“Like what-cha see Eds?” Richie giggled as he dug through his dresser in search of a shirt to wear.

“What? No… I was just staring into space and you happened to step into my gaze or whatever” Eddie felt his blush creep across his cheeks and up the back of his neck.

Richie pulled on a random shirt then sat on the bed and put his glasses on.

“Did you change my sheets Eddie?” Richie’s voice sounded a little clearer now, Eddie was happy to hear that it was almost back to normal after his shower.

“I don’t know, maybe…”

Maggie knocked at the door with her foot and Eddie quickly got up to open it. She was holding two bowls of homemade chicken noodle soup.

“Oh wow you finally showered!” She was relieved that Richie finally showered. She put the bowls on top of the desk “it’s hot boys, be careful.”

“Thanks Mrs. Tozier”

“Yeah thanks Ma” Richie settled back into bed.

Maggie walked over to Richie and kissed the top of his head.

“Mom I’m like thirty…” Richie groaned.

Maggie turned and smiled at Eddie as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Richie squirmed into bed, obviously still freezing from his shower. Eddie got up and handed him one of the bowls of soup.

“Here, this will warm you up.”

Richie took the bowl and started to eat. Eddie was about to grab his own but instead walked to the old wooden milkcrate that Richie kept his records in. He fingered through them, searching for something to put on, he settled on the album “Hunky Dory” by David Bowie, an artist he knew Richie loved. He popped the record in and settled back into the beanbag chair to eat his soup.

Once they were finished, Richie set his bowl on his nightstand and settled into bed, enjoying the music. Eddie got up and decided to take their bowls to the kitchen.

“Eds you don’t have to-” Richie started but was cut off by Eddie’s reply.

“If I don’t, they’ll sit here for a week” Eddie laughed and walked out of the room.

Eddie ran into Maggie in the kitchen, who was pouring the left-over soup into large Tupperware containers to be reheated for meals to come.

“Hey honey, I wanted to say thanks for being such a good friend to Richie. I can tell how much you mean to him. You know with Went traveling for work all the time and me picking up more shifts, he’s been kind of down lately.”

“Uh- thanks Mrs. Tozier” Eddie put the bowls in the sink, he was going to say more but was cut off by the sound of another cough attack upstairs.

“Here, you better take a few of these upstairs with you” she handed him some cough drops.

“Okay, thanks again” he smiled at her as he turned to walk back upstairs.

He returned to find Richie desperately clawing at the blankets on the bed, pulling them closer to his body.

“Eds, thank God you’re back, come here, you’re like a walking heating pad” Eddie could hear Richie’s voice tremble as he shivered in bed.

“Wow if that’s all I am to you, I guess I’m leaving.” Eddie dropped the cough drops onto the nightstand and picked up Richie’s now completely empty water glass and left to fill it.

Richie shivered in bed, dying for Eddie to crawl into it with him. It was relatively normal for the boys to sleep in the same bed. Whenever all of the losers would have sleepovers in Bill’s basement, Richie and Eddie always made it a point to claim the fold out couch. Always walking up tangled in each other’s limbs.

Eddie returned and set the glass of water on the table.

“Scooch” Eddie said and lightly poked at Richie, encouraging him to make room for him on the small bed.

Richie rolled over to face the wall, shifting as close to it as he could. He melted as he felt Eddie crawl into bed behind him. Eddie placed his hand on Richie’s shoulder.

“Jesus Richie you’re freezing” Eddie started shifting his hand up and down his arm, with intention to warm at least one of Richie’s shivering limbs.

“It’s because I showered, my stench cloud was functioning as incubation.”

“Richie that’s disgusting” Eddie shifted so his body was pressed up against Richie’s. He felt Richie scoot closer to him. Eddie laced his arm around him to hold him closer.

“Shut up, you love my stench” Richie hugged Eddie’s arm to his chest. Eddie’s flat hand rested against Richie’s trembling chest.

The two laid together, listening to the music and thinking of what their relationship has come to. It has always been natural for the two to be drawn together, touching came natural for them. Their actions were almost fluid when put into a situation like this one. There was obviously something more than friendship wafting through the thoughts and intention of their interactions. To no one’s surprise, Richie was the one to break the silence.

“Thanks for coming over Eddie…it means a lot to me.”

Eddie was almost shocked by the tone of Richie’s voice, he could tell he was trying to be serious.

“Of course, Rich…” Eddie carefully thought about what to say next “I was starting to worry about you to be honest.” Eddie added a chuckle to break the severity of the conversation.

Eddie felt Richie’s muscles start to loosen.

“So, you really do love me, huh eds.”

Eddie gently kneed the back of one of Richie’s legs, “Hey, were not there yet.”

“Yet?” Richie shifted around so he was now facing Eddie, a large goofy grin spread across his face.

Richie watched the blush crawl across Eddie’s nose as his eyes darted just about everywhere but Richie’s face.

All Eddie had the courage to do was burry himself into Richie’s chest, tangling their legs together and hugging him close. He felt Richie’s trembling arms snake around him, and Richie burry his face into Eddie’s hair.

“You know, I really do like your hair like this Eds” Richie’s voice was barely audible as he tried to whisper, his scratchy throat not allowing him. Hoping that egging on the conversation with a hint of deeper feelings would help to finally take their conversation to the place it had been threatening to go for years.

Eddie hugged him tighter “I wish you weren’t sick” Eddies whisper was more audible than Richie’s, though slightly muffled by Richie’s tee-shirt.

“Why’s that?”

“’Cus then I could kiss you” Eddie knew that if he had to see Richie’s face, he would never have said what he said. He knew that if Richie wasn’t sick, he would have never said what he said. Hell, he knew that if presented with just about any other circumstance he never would have said what he said. He would have swallowed the thought, the phrase, the longing. He would have swallowed it just like any other day. He would have swallowed the thought just like when he swallows it when he sees Richie’s face light up as Eddie walks into the classroom, or when he calls him the nicknames he ‘hates’ so much, he would have swallowed the thought just like how he has been for years.

Richie’s heart raced as he leaned down to plant a kiss on the nest of curls he loved so much. He felt Eddie sigh against his chest and the grip around his waist loosen in the slightest.

Eddie wasn’t entirely sure why, but he felt tears welling in his eyes. He knew that it was hurting him to see Richie so weak, he had usually been the backbone to everyone’s happy mood. Whenever one of the Losers was having a bad day, Richie was the one to lift their spirits, Eddie always loved that about him. This feeling was easy for him to understand, but he knew that this wasn’t why he was crying. He knew he was crying about something much deeper. His emotions simply weren’t sure how to cope with a love like this. It had been a love so strong, but so dormant for so long. Neither boy has crossed the line of speaking about their feelings, let alone acting on it. It was overwhelming for Eddie, but at the same time he never wanted to leave. He wanted to hold Richie forever, he wanted to _be held_ _by_ Richie forever. He just wanted Richie forever.

Richie couldn’t be sure, but he believed he felt Eddie crying. He held him closer to his chest and rested his cheek on the top of his head. Richie felt as if his heart was going to explode any minute. He couldn’t believe that Eddie allowed those words escape his mouth. Richie knew he loved Eddie, it was one of the only things consistent and certain in Richie’s life. Did he know what the fuck he wanted to do after high school? _No. _Did he know when his Dad would be able to stay home for more than three days at a time? _No._ Did he know that he had been in love with Eddie Kaspbrak since presumably birth?_ A thousand times yes._

Eddie couldn’t hide his tears anymore, allowing himself to sniffle and pull at the neck of his shirt, using it to to wipe his eyes.

“Hey, Eddie… don’t cry” Richie’s normally deep, currently raspy voice rose an octave while trying to comfort Eddie, “come here.” Richie sank down in bed to look at Eddies face.

Richie gently cupped Eddie’s face and thumbed away the tears. Richie could tell that the emotions were a lot for Eddie to deal with. Richie knew better than anyone that it was hard for Eddie to cope with feelings. His family life had not been the easiest. Eddie’s dad passed away when he was young, and his mother’s way of expressing her “love” for Eddie wasn’t really love at all in Richie’s opinion. He was certain of his love for Eddie, and he was grateful that thanks to Eddie’s bravery he could finally show him what love really was.

“I don’t know why I’m crying; I feel dumb about it, can we just ignore it?” Eddie asked through quivering lips.

Richie laughed, hugging Eddie closer, if it was even possible. Eddie responded by wrapping his arms around Richie and burying his face into his neck allowing a choked sob escape his throat.

They lay like this for a little while, Richie eventually fell asleep and Eddie carefully shifting out of bed. He glanced at the clock on Richie’s bedside table and felt a wave of anxiety rush through his body as he realized that it was nearly 8 pm. He knew his mom wouldn’t let him hear the end of it if he came home past his curfew of eight o’clock. He rubbed his hands around his face in attempt to rub away any signs of an emotional breakdown and rushed out of the room in search of Maggie Tozier. He found her in the living room reading a book in her cozy blush pink chair.

“Hey, M-Mrs. Tozier I have to go home now but I don’t have a ride and Richie is sleeping and if I’m not home before eight my mom is going to kill me-” Eddie’s ramble rollercoaster was cut off by Maggie’s firm but kind interruption.

“Eddie, Eddie, Eddie…don’t worry honey I got off the phone with your mother a few minutes ago, I told her that you’re staying the night.” Her face appeared nervous because she noted that Eddie had obviously been crying upstairs, evident by his wet eyelashes, puffy eyes and red face “I hope that’s okay, I mean because you usually end up asking to stay anyway so I just figured I’ll skip a step this once.” She smiled kindly at him.

Eddie felt sweet relief coarse through his veins, thank God for Maggie Tozier.

“Thank you so much, for everything I mean, the soup was great, a-and for calling my mom and everything.” Once Eddie started to ramble it was hard to get him to stop, even if his mood changes.

Maggie laughed feeling relieved to know that everything seemed to be okay and told him that there’s a few of Richie’s old clothes that were too small for him on the bottom shelf of his closet if he wanted to change into something more comfortable for bed. Eddie thanked her for what felt like the sixtieth time that day and turned to go back upstairs. He admired the importance of _comfort_ in the Tozier household. From their clothes, to their food, to their décor, to their everything, being there made you feel like you were always ready for a hug.

Eddie went back upstairs stopping in Richie’s room to frisk through his “make-up bag” to find a toothbrush. Halting briefly to admire Richie’s sleeping form on the bed, his arms still outstretched where Eddie had been laying, his curls wild but soft and still on the pillow cradling his head. Richie’s mouth was held slightly ajar, the way it always did when he fell into a deep sleep, Eddie walked over and pulled the comforter up so that it was resting below Richie’s chin.

Once in the bathroom, Eddie stopped to survey himself in the mirror, his face was violently puffy around the eyes and permanently flushed. He thought to himself that there was no way that Maggie couldn’t tell that he had been crying. He leaned against the counter and ran a hand through his hair. It definitely wasn’t as curly as Richie’s, but it was still curly, nonetheless. He briefly realized that he never really formed his own opinion on his hair when it was in this state. He had been so used to the routine of hiding its true _wild_ form. Now that he knew Richie liked his hair’s natural state, he felt more open to the idea of allowing himself to skip this part of his morning routine. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, then decided to shower.

Once he was out of the shower, he dried himself and pulled his pants and underwear back on, he was about to reach for his shirt when he remembered Maggie’s offer. He wrapped the towel around his shoulders to catch any cold drips of water and collected his things before tip toeing back to Richie’s room. He silently shoved his belongings back into his bag and then made his way to the closet, crouching and deciding on what shirt he wanted to borrow for the night. None of the shirts were really calling towards him so he instead shifted his attention to the dresser. His eyes caught the grey fabric of a particularly cozy looking shirt, he pulled it out and unfolded it to find that it was one of Richie’s ACDC shirts. He tugged it on and turned off the lamp on the desk. Then, he made a strong effort to not disturb Richie as he gently crawled over his sleeping form to sandwich himself between the wall and Richie’s back. Pushing himself under the comforter and snaking his arms around Richie, he let out a sigh that he didn’t realize had been trapped in his lungs, allowing himself to relax into Richie’s back hugging him tight to his chest.

As he drifted off to sleep, he wallowed in the tranquility of the scene around him and decided to never doubt the advice of Beverly Marsh.


	2. Eddie Kaspbrak is Stressed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard for Eddie to cope with all of the feelings that come with openly loving Richie Tozier. Reality is clouded by distracting thoughts of being shunned by his friends, exiled by his mother, and frowned upon by the town of Derry. But he would ultimately put up with any of it if that means he can tell Richie "I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild depictions of a panic/asthma attack!

They both knew going back to school was going to be tough. Monday contained countless events of Richie trying to act natural around Eddie, trying to joke around with him, confused as to how he can now dance around the subject of how adorable he was. For Richie, the new dynamic between the two was foreign but exciting. He loved everything about Eddie and the fact that he can now love him the way he deserves to be loved.  
For Eddie however, this was the most stressful thing he could imagine. Richie just meant so much to him. Eddie loved everything about the evolution of their relationship besides the group dynamic of the Losers now. He loved how Richie would look at him across the lunch table with his oceanic eyes, he could say so much to Eddie now with just a glance, it caused every muscle in Eddie’s body to fall and everything in his mind to vanish, leaving only one thought behind Richie.  
It has been hard for Richie and Eddie to “act natural” around the rest of their friends. Instead of sitting next to each other at lunch, they have forced a new habit of sitting across and far apart from each other. Richie had at first, tried to joke with Eddie like he normally would, like mentioning how cute he was, or calling him the nicknames Eddie hasn’t grown into loving just yet. But, Richie noticed what it did to Eddie, he noticed how flustered he got, how much his cheeks blushed and his body tensed, how his hands immediately fidgeted with the closest thing they could grasp and how his eyes darted to each of the losers faces. Richie decided to cool it with the comments as to not cause Eddie to hyperventilate.  
The Losers knew something was going on between the two and it made them nervous. A part of Bev felt hopeful that they finally expanded on their obvious feelings for each other, but she couldn’t tell if the evolution was good or bad. Maybe one of them confessed their feelings and the other didn’t feel the same. She confided her feelings with Ben during fifth period on Wednesday of that week.  
“What do you think is going on with Richie and Eddie…” Bev asked, “like do you think everything is okay?”  
“I think so, well I hope so” Ben said with a puzzled expression “yesterday I watched Richie staring at Eddie for like all of our film class. He didn’t look upset or anything. He was looking at him like how he usually does.”  
“Well that’s good right?”  
“Yeah…..”Ben contemplated for a minute “….I think?”  
Stan was on the same page as Ben and Bev. He noticed something was off between the two, but he couldn’t quite put a pin in it. Bill and Mike however, insisted that nothing was going on between the two.  
“What!? No…. Richie isn’t gay, he jokes about Eddie’s mom all the time” Mike said one afternoon when Stan was running his theory by the two.  
“Yeah, I-I haven’t noticed anything” Bill agreed. 

*

On Thursday morning, Richie Tozier got surprisingly bored during their second period government class.  
“Hey, psst Eds” Richie leaned forward in his seat to whisper into the back of Eddie’s head.  
Eddie leaned back in his chair and turned his head slightly to imply he was listening.  
“Let me drive you home after school” Richie poked Eddie’s back with his pencil.  
“My mom would have an aneurism if I don’t show up on the bus dude, I can’t…” It tugged at Eddie’s heart to reject the exciting proposition.  
“Well… go to the office and call her at lunch, tell her that we’re working on a project or something” Richie traced the form of Eddies shoulder with the eraser of his pencil. The action ran shivers down Eddie’s back. “we can go shopping or something.” Richie knew exactly what plans lie in the ‘or something’ but that was a surprise for later.  
Eddie silently thanked the lord that the two managed to be seated in the back corner of the classroom.  
“Okay but I don’t think she’ll go for it, but I’ll try I guess” Eddie flashed him a smile.  
“Careful Eds, I might go crazy and get my hopes up or something” Richie gave the back of Eddie’s head a few taps with his pencil and turned back to his notes to draw in the margins of the paper. 

*

At lunch on that same Thursday, the losers had a discussion.  
“G-Guys I just got a new movie from the B-Blockbuster” Bill said “w-we should g-get together to watch it at my place tomorrow.”  
“I say fuck yeah Big Bill! I’ll pick up some snacks and shit after school!” Richie sounded almost too excited, he was eager to find any excuse for him and Eddie to spend the whole weekend together, without the barricade of sickness between them.  
“Are we spending the night?” Bev asked. Partially to have the losers help her brainstorm a cover to relay to her father, but also partially to gauge the reactions of Richie and Eddie. She loved waking up to find them cuddled together on the fold out couch, she really thought that they were perfect for each other.  
“I mean probably” Bill said glancing around the table to see what the others thought.  
Bev’s eyes dashed to the faces of Richie and Eddie, she watched as Richie’s Adam’s apple jumped in his throat and as Eddie’s eyes dashed to Richie’s and his cheeks turn pink.  
All of the losers agreed to the plan and offered up plenty of covers for Bev’s dad. As this occurred, Eddie snuck away to call his mom. Bev silently settled on telling him that he was spending the night at Greta Bowie’s house.  
When Eddie returned, he flashed a smile and a wink at Richie. Richie beamed in return and decided to channel his newfound energy spike of excitement into an exaggerated stretch, resulting with each of his arms resting around the shoulders of Bev and Stan.  
“Well, I fucking think, that this is about to be the best fucking movie night fucking ever.” Squeezing the shoulders of his friends with each ‘fucking.’  
“God can you swear more!?” Bev chuckled and squirmed out of Richie’s grasp. 

*

“Hey Eds, you ready to go?” Richie said as he snuck up behind Eddie, who was fidgeting with the contents of his locker.  
“Yeah” Eddie said, closing the door as he turned to lead the way to Richie to his car.  
Bev watched them from behind the door of her own locker down the hall. Beaming, she slammed it closed and scurried to go find Ben and Stan to share the news.  
“So where are we going anyway?” Eddie asked as they reached the parking lot.  
“All of the most boring places in Derry, I just really wanted to drag you along to spend time with you lover-boy.” Richie mumbled the last part, leaning over so his voice projected into the back of Eddies head, it was only for him to hear.  
Eddie blushed and frantically surveyed the crowd around him, then turned to elbow Richie in the chest, who only laughed then jogged to walk beside Eddie. When the crowd they were previously walking through dwindled, he comfortably put his arm around Eddie, who in response put his hands in his pockets to suppress the ache to grab the large hand scarved around his shoulders.  
“Well we should probably go to the grocery store or something because I could be wrong, but at lunch it sounded like you promised me Twizzlers” Eddie teased.  
“Damn straight I did, Skeddie!” Richie said, lightly pulling Eddie into a headlock and gently ruffling his hair in an attempt to release his waves from the devil that was Eddie’s hair pomade.  
All Eddie could do was laugh and desperately grab at Richie’s arms. A few weeks ago, he would have cared about Richie messing up his hair, but he loved the attention, and honestly loved his natural hair. Richie finally released Eddie from his grasp, and they parted to hop into Richie’s blue dodge ram truck.  
Richie turned on the radio and started singing along to a random rock n roll song that Eddie didn’t recognize, while Eddie proceeded to get lost in his thoughts about their relationship. He knew he loved Richie and would never want what they have to sway towards any form of regression or depletion, but he knew that the world was against them. He knew that this town was against them. He knew that his own mother was against him, and maybe even their own friends were against them. The majority of Eddie’s brain doubted the last part, but he had such an overwhelming fear of their friends finding out about their relationship and shunning them. Thoughts like this are what has kept Eddie awake at night for the past week or so. He struggled with these thoughts but didn’t want to bring it up to Richie, Eddie could tell how happy he was, and he didn’t ever want to be the one responsible for tearing a smile off of his face. He knew they would have to talk about it eventually, but things were so new and exciting, and he didn’t want to ruin something so fragile but at the same time strong. Their love was strong, Eddie thought to himself as almost a realization, he knew it was strong because he knew that those three words could possibly never cross the lips of Richie Tozier, but Eddie would never doubt for a second that Richie didn’t love him. The same could be said for Eddie as well, he knew that they could go without ever saying those words, because their love was almost stronger than words. They each were vitally aware of the love radiating off of each other, they knew the true intentions behind a smile, a touch, or a joke because... they knew well enough. He knew well enough…

*

Eddie casually followed Richie through the isles of the store, pushing the large blue cart that Richie insisted they needed.  
“Richie, we don’t need this massive fucking cart.”  
“Yes, we need this massive fucking cart.”  
“For fucking what!?”  
“For fucking things!”  
So, they got the massive fucking cart to store, God knows what. Eddie assumed the role of preventing Richie from spending all of his money on shit he simply did not need. So far, Eddie has rescued Richie’s wallet from suffering the spending of precious cash on the following items, a cheap women’s cut shirt that read “Happiness is Being a Grandma,” a dinosaur dog toy (for who’s dog Eddie will never know), and a jar of sweet potato baby food that he mistook for apple sauce.  
After what felt like hours, the two were finally checking out. Eddie was relieved to be finally leaving the store, shopping with Richie Tozier was definitely not a task for everyone. Once in the car Richie tossed their single bag of snacks to the floor of his truck, then started the car before draping his arm around Eddies shoulders, who decided to sit in the center of the front seat.  
As Richie started to drive Eddie smiled and leaned into the security of Richie’s arm around his shoulder. He leaned into the safety of Richie’s arm around his shoulder. Eddie loved the feeling of Richie’s arm around his shoulder, he felt everything that Richie intended with the decision of placing his arm around his shoulders, he felt safe, he felt secure, he felt loved, and he felt protected.  
“Where to now Eds?” Richie squeezed his shoulders as he asked, hoping for the response that he in the end did receive.  
“I don’t know, just not home” Eddie knew he could be honest about his home life with Richie “at least not yet…”  
“No prob Bob, I got just the place” Richie blushed and flashed Eddie a smile as he drove towards the Derry famous kissing bridge. He silently hoped to himself that they would have the place to themselves. Richie has been eager to tell Eddie about the carvings he made on the kissing bridge so long ago, but he could never find the right time. 

*

Eddie lagged behind Richie as they walked along the railing of the bridge. He watched as Richie ran his hand along the top plank of wood as he walked, finally stopping in front of what Eddie understood was the destination of Richie’s carving.  
Richie stood in front of the carving, facing Eddie, then smiled as he stepped away to allow Eddies eyes to search for the three characters that meant so much to him.  
“R + E” Eddie said breathlessly, then felt his eyes well up as he stared at the wood. He felt Richie’s hands take hold of him, one hand clasped in his own and the other snaked around his arm.  
“Yeah, I did it when I was like fourteen…I did it the day I realized that…. well….” Richie allowed his sentence derail before he said the three words that he had been avoiding all week.  
“Richie I-I” before Eddie could finish his thought, he felt Richie’s hand around the back of his head, and his warm lips on his temple. Eddie took a glance around them to be sure no one else was around before turning to face Richie, he snaked his arms around the taller boy’s torso and hugged him, burying his head into his chest, tucking his head under his chin and squeezing his eyes closed.  
Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie and buried his face into Eddie’s hair. He chuckled as the force of Eddies hug made him stumble backwards in the slightest, which only caused him to hold Eddie tighter. He shifted his grasp on Eddie so one of his hands was on the back of Eddie’s head, and his smiling face buried further into Eddie’s hair. They rocked for a while, enjoying the embrace and working hard to radiate their aura of love to one another.  
Eddie parted barely with Richie to press his lips to the taller boy’s cheek. He smiled as Richie leaned into the kiss, then blushed as he felt the large hand travel from the back of his head, to his cheek. At this, Eddie released his grip around Richie’s waist and instead resting one on his chest and tangling the other in his curls. Then used his spark of bravery that seemed to be enhanced by the presence of Richie as well as charged by their love, to seek for Richie’s lips with his own. Trailing kisses from the spot on his cheek to the corner of his mouth, then connecting their lips completely. He smiled into their kiss as he felt Richie’s glasses press into his nose, and his arm hook around his waist.  
Eddie lazily reached his hand from Richie’s chest to take off his glasses, relaxing his arm holding the glasses around Richie’s shoulders, leaning deeper into the kiss. He felt a warm tear fall from Richie’s cheek onto the tip of his own nose. Laughing a little he untangled his fingers from Richie’s hair and thumbed at the wetness on his cheek. Returning the glasses to Richie’s face he detached their kiss and let his head drop into the crook of Richie’s neck as he hugged him, again slowly rocking them back and forth.  
“Eddie I-” Richie started, wrapping his arms tight around him “I just love you so much. I love holding you, I love touching you, I love being with you, I love laughing with you, I love laughing at you, I just love you….but Ed’s I love holding you so much, like so so much, like… of all the things my hands have held before, the best by far is you.” Richie finished his ramble with his head burrowed into the now curly hair of Eddie Kaspbrak.  
“Richie, I love you too” Eddie tried to swallow the ball growing in his throat as he felt tears well in his eyes “I feel like I don’t deserve you, but I can’t bring myself to walk away. I feel selfish almost being with you because you could be with someone so much better, so much easier than me, like my mom is gonna kill us, and our friends are gonna hate us, and our lives are going to be ruined-” Eddie couldn’t even pay attention to what he was saying or how he was saying it, he couldn’t control his mouth as his thoughts poured out of it unfiltered.  
“Eddie no-no-no, hey-hey” Richie pulled the now sobbing Eddie Kaspbrak to the ground to sit down. He guided him to lean his back against the wooden rail of the bridge as he kneeled in front of him allowing Eddie to sob into his shoulder. Richie rubbed his back and littered the top of his head with the occasional kiss, trying everything he physically could to help ease the mental turmoil running throughout his mind.  
Richie quickly reacted as he felt Eddie’s breath start to become more and more hitched as he drifted into a panic attack. Not wanting to leave Eddie sitting all alone mid-panic/asthma attack he held the smaller boy by the hand, helping him up to then walk back to the truck where Richie helped him to the passenger side seat, situating him to face the opened door. Once Eddie was seated in the car Richie retrieved his inhaler from his bookbag, holding it in Eddie’s mouth as, counting down as he triggered a puff down Eddie’s throat. He allowed Eddie a few seconds to adjust to the sensation then repeated the countdown to trigger it a second time. Two puffs seemed to be satisfactory, so Richie dropped his hand holding the inhaler to Eddie’s lap and pulled him into a hug. Eddie sniffled as he wrapped his arms around Richie’s shoulders.  
“Eddie, I know you’re worried about your mom…. but, I think you shouldn’t care about what she thinks. Can I tell you why?” Richie dropped the inhaler in Eddie’s lap as he grabbed his shoulders, pushing him away to look Eddie in the eyes. He felt his heart twinge at the sight of Eddies face, his large brown doe eyes were puffy, complimented by his wet lashes and red cheeks, shiny with tears. Richie dipped his head slightly to catch his gaze.  
“…why?” Eddie asked, his voice so small.  
“Because we have the best fucking friends in the entire fucking world. They would probably love to see us happy together, I know Stan and Bev alone has asked me a thousand fucking times when were gonna get together! You don’t need to worry about your mom because, smack me if I’m wrong but she is so shitty compared to your real family. We’re your family Ed’s Bill, Stan, Bev, Ben, Mike, and me. Eddie they all love you man, I love you man!” Richie chuckled with happiness and relief, loving the feeling of finally being able to tell Eddie how he feels. “Don’t care about what she thinks because we’ll fucking hide this from her, it’ll be our secret. I am going to love you the way you deserve to be loved and she can do nothing about it. Fuck, if she ever does find out we’ll move you into Bill’s basement! His parents wouldn’t care! They probably wouldn’t even notice you’re down there Ed’s!”  
Eddie smiled as he watched Richie’s rare, serious face morph into the goofy grin he loved so much. Richie beamed at him in response.  
“And what the fuck was that nonsense about you not deserving me!? Like what the fuck Ed’s do you think I’m some Greek god or something!?”  
Eddie chuckled weakly, leaning into his hands to do so. Richie laughed too and leaned back slightly to watch Eddie. Once Eddie picked his face up out of his hands, he looked at Richie with a face of defeat and a hint of a smile. Richie grinned as he fixed the hair on Eddie’s forehead, combing his fingers through it as he moved it out if his face.  
“Eddie, you’re so pretty when you cry” Richie beamed as Eddie kicked lightly at Richie’s leg. 

*

“O-Okay, who’s sleeping where?” Bill asked as they all trailed down the carpeted stairs into the large finished basement.  
“I’ve got one of the recliners!” Eddie piped up quickly, he and Richie devised a cleaver plan earlier that day at school in which Eddie would claim the recliner in order to draw attention away from the suspicion of the two boys coupling.  
“Really…. not the fold out couch with Richie?” Bev interrogated.  
“Yeah did you guys get a divorce or something?” Stan giggled.  
“No Ed’s is simply respecting my oath of sexual abstinence.” Richie blurted out, not able to stop himself.  
“What? NO! I just am sick and tired of him kicking me all night that’s all!” Eddie knew damn well that this wasn’t true, Richie never kicked or punched or anything of that nature when he slept, Richie was only ever affectionate and comforting during sleep.  
“Sure Eddie…” Bev responded laughing.  
Eddie blushed as he glared at Richie, who only raised his hands and eyebrows in defense.  
Eddie threw his large duffle bag, stuffed to the brim with nighttime “essentials” onto the recliner in the far corner of the room furthest from the stairs. He thought to himself about how weird it will be sleeping in Bill’s basement without Richie next to him. He turned to watch as Richie set his stuff on the floor, furthest from Eddie, closer to the stairs. Richie relayed the saddest wink that Eddie has ever witnessed in his life towards him. Eddie winced as he felt his heart twinge.  
“Okay everyone, ask and you shall receive!” Richie exclaimed as he threw the snacks he bought at the store on the ground, caring only to toss the pack of twizzlers onto Eddie’s lap who was already curling up in the recliner chair. Eddie thanked him with a smile and Richie responded with a sly wink and a grin, as everyone casually had their pick from the snacks littering the ground.  
Bev, who picked up on the whole encounter threw a glance to Ben who was entirely oblivious to the entire interaction because he had been reading the film summary on the back of the tape box, she gave up on him and instead glanced to Stan who had been staring right back at her. The two exchanged the expression of a suppressed smile and continued to act as if the whole encounter had gone unnoticed.  
“So should we pop this in now?” Ben asked standing up from his seat on the folded-up fold-out couch.  
“Yeah, here-” Bill also stood to help Ben fidget with the TV.  
Richie felt that everyone was distracted enough to leave his spot on the floor where he put his things to instead sit in front of the TV. As he did so, he lay on the ground and made a snow angel in the mess of various bags of chips and fun-sized candy.  
Finally, the movie was on and started. Everyone settled comfortably into their seats. Mike laying across the loveseat butted up against the right wall adjacent to the TV, Stan on the first of two recliners in the basement, this one being next to the stairs, Bill on the ground sitting on top of a bean bag dragged downstairs from his bedroom, seated in between Stan’s recliner and the fold out couch, currently seating Ben and Bev. Finally, Eddie was seated in the recliner furthest from the stairs, sandwiching the entrance to the bathroom with his seat and the couch. Richie lay on his back in front of the TV, propping his head up with his hands clasped behind it.  
Eddie could barely pay attention to the move because of the sour feeling in his heart. He wanted so badly to tell Richie to come over and share the recliner with him. But he remembered their conversation about agreeing to not tell the losers about their relationship until they were both ready and they both knew that Eddie was not at all ready. Eddie felt bad about this, but Richie reassured him that he was totally okay with waiting until he was comfortable with the idea of sharing their relationship with the rest of the Losers. So, there Richie lay on the carpet in front of the TV all alone.  
Once the movie was over, the Losers started to chat about the plot. Eddie was silent for most of the conversation because he was still upset about Richie having to be on the floor but also because he simply didn’t know the plot of the movie. The conversation soon came to an end when Bev singled him out.  
“Man, I’m thirsty, hey Eddie! Wanna come on upstairs with me to get a drink?”  
Her expression was hard to read, but Eddie could tell she was onto something. “I mean not really, I’m like super comfortable right now on this recliner…” he made a point to pull the lever on the recliner to emphasize his statement.  
“Fine, how about you Richie?” Bev smirked and turned to face Richie who’s gaze instead of responding to the eyes of Bev, turned to Eddie’s.  
“Why don’t we both come…??” Richie knew that Bev knew something was up. He knew himself well enough to know that he was bad under pressure. Especially when that pressure was Bev asking if he and Eddie finally started dating.  
There was a thick silence lingering in the room as they all awkwardly waited for Eddie’s response.  
“I mean…okay” was all Eddie could say as he slowly pushed the footrest into the chair and stood up.  
Richie allowed Eddie to walk in front of him shoving his hands nervously in his pockets as they both followed Bev up the stairs. Richie thought he saw Eddies shoulders tense. Once they were upstairs, they saw that all the lights were off, Bill’s parents and his little brother Georgie must have all gone to bed. They rounded the corner into the kitchen, where Bev held the door open for the two of them and shut it behind the three of them, encapsulating them in a makeshift ‘safe space.’  
“You guys know we love you right?” Bev started.  
“I-I mean yeah but wh-”  
“AND you know we aren’t idiots, right?” Bev interrupted Richie.  
“Oh no…” Eddie put his face in his hands embarrassed with realization that his fears have been actualized. Just as he did so he felt Richie’s strong hand on his shoulder.  
“I understand if you want to hide, but please don’t hide for the wrong reasons. We care about you guys and would love to see you happy. I can tell you’re forcing yourselves apart when we’re around and it’s hurting each other. You can hide for everyone else, but please, please don’t think you have to hide in front of us.” She finished her short but meaningful monologue by embracing the both of them. Before she released her grip on the boys, she kissed each of their cheeks.  
“Thanks Bev, we love you too” Richie said.  
Eddie picked his head up out of his hands to reveal his tears. “Richie makes me so emotional, I’m sorry Bev, thank you so much, I love you too.” He hugged her again.  
“Its really only Stan, Ben and I that figured it out, I wont tell them anything else though, you guys can tell everyone together on your own time, I just wanted to let you guys know that we all have your back against this town of assholes.”  
Richie rubbed circles into Eddie’s back, understanding that he was the one who needed to be reassured of these things.  
“Thanks, Bevvie” Richie said with a smirk, indicating that that’s just what Eddie needed to hear. Bev took this as her cue to leave and turned to get a glass of water before leaving with a wink.  
“P.S. if you want to kick Ben and I off the couch, that’s totally fine, we’re cool with the floor.” She whispered through the cracked door of the kitchen.  
Once she left Eddie turned to Richie, embracing him. “Rich I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.”  
“Well I don’t want to kick Benverly off the couch man, I have to sleep on the floor.” Richie chuckled.  
“Well” Eddie considered sleeping on the ground with Richie but remembered how much he himself didn’t want to sleep on the floor “sleep on the recliner with me, it’s big enough I think.” Eddie buried his face into Richie’s neck, hoping the action would help to convince Richie.  
“Okay fuck yes, I call being the little spoon” Richie giggled and ruffled Eddies curly hair.  
“Should we tell them now or…?” Eddie slinked out of the embrace, understanding that Eddie’s sudden change of heart against sleeping close to Richie would rattle a few brains.  
“It’s up to you honestly, I don’t care either way” Richie replied, “maybe we don’t have to say anything, we could just fuck with their brains and start like making out I front of the TV or something.”  
“Oh, my fucking God NO” Eddie playfully pushed at Richie’s chest. He thought to himself about how they haven’t even really gone that far yet with each other. “Just, follow my lead.”  
Eddie held Richie’s hand as he led them back down the stairs, stopping to grab Richie’s night bag with his free hand and tossing it next to the recliner as they sat down together. They did this by paying no mind to the fact that Bill was switching tapes to put on another movie. They also did this by paying no mind to the fact that Stan quickly bolted upright from his reclined position to flash a look at Bev, who merely shrugged in response, cuddling into Ben who wrapped his muscular arm around her shoulders. She was obviously happy and felt at rest that the boys didn’t partake in the offering of her and Ben’s prime spot.  
Each of the losers took turns in the bathroom, readying themselves for bed, once everyone was settled, no one paying much mind to the movie, Ben and Bev folded out the couch, and Stan threw blankets from the linin closet upstairs at everyone, he tossed the coziest one by far at Richie and Eddie on the recliner, flashing a wink at them as he did so. Richie beamed at him and Eddie blushed.  
Richie reclined the chair and started shifting to get cozy, he shed his face of his glasses and set them on top of his bag on the ground. He silently kissed Eddies forehead as he then turned away from him to start to fall asleep. Seconds later he felt Eddie’s smaller body turn towards his own, sliding his arm under Richie’s to lay across his chest. Richie smiled as he felt Eddie kiss the back of his neck and snuggle his face into the warmth of his back.  
As they drifted off to sleep, Richie considered the possibility of Beverly being some kind of Witch who could perfectly predict just what to say to steady the mind of Eddie Kaspbrak.


End file.
